As Wembley prepares for Manchester United's showdown with Barcelona, this seems like an apt moment to cast our minds back to 21 May 1992 – and the last European Cup final held at England's national stadium. Barcelona were in action that day too, taking on the Serie A champions Sampdoria. Still goalless deep into extra time, the game looked set to be decided on penalties. But then Ronald Koeman stepped up to take a free-kick on the edge of the Sampdoria area ...

Koeman explodes the penalty cop-out

By David Lacey

The European Cup was won last night in the style to which it had once been accustomed. A 25-yard shot from Ronnie Koeman nine minutes from the end of extra-time enabled Barcelona to overcome Sampdoria 's stifling defences and spared an outstanding final the ignominy of yet another penalty shoot-out.

Thus Barcelona have ended a 36-year search for Continental club football's most prestigious prize. They did so, moreover, after a display of the attacking arts worthy of Johan Cruyff, their manager and a name associated with all that is best in the game, as well as Nou Camp's longstanding traditions of positive, exciting play.

Yet it was a close-run thing, for having dominated the second half and seen Hristo Stoichkov, their eccentric but immensely gifted Bulgarian striker hit a post, Barcelona went into extra-time facing a Sampdoria team who had clearly decided to squeeze the life out of the remainder of the game and chance their luck with penalties.

For this reason alone, one had to be glad that the match was settled in open play and that Barcelona won it. Four of the previous eight European Cup finals had been decided by penalties and memories of last year's dreary stalemate in Bari between Red Star Belgrade and Marseille were still grim.

To be fair to Sampdoria , they set out to win the 1992 final in their own stealthy, guarded way. This involved the withdrawal of eight or nine men back behind the ball when posession was lost, leaving Barcelona to become entangled when their movements ran out of space.

Sampdoria then produced a series of swift, incisive counterattacks which at one stage in the second half would surely have won them the match had Gianluca Vialli not suffered a recurrence of his 1990 World Cup nightmare.

Vialli missed two simple chances and in extra-time gave way to the 22-year-old Renato Buso. If he was about to join Juventus for pounds 12 million there may now be a recount.

Wembley enjoyed its first European Cup final for 14 years. Thousands of Catalan and Genoese supporters brought colour and vibrancy to the occasion, and eventually saw the riches of European football at the old stadium.

For Leeds United and other English teams hoping to reestablish the monopoly of the late Seventies and early Eighties, the match set awesomely high standards. An evening worthy of high summer on the Mediterranean coast had greeted the 1992 finalists and eventually Wembley warmed to the occasion.

The first-half sparring ended when the suddenness of Lombardo's turn caught three Barcelona defenders by surprise and Zubizarreta only prevented Sampdoria from taking the lead by sticking out a hand to divert the shot from its destination inside the near post. Then Eusebio picked out Stoichkov at the far post but his header was safely held by Pagliuca.

Had it not been for the agility and quick reflexes of Pagliuca, Barcelona would have gone ahead at the start of the second half. After Juan Carlos and Guardiola had worked the ball to Salinas, the striker clung tenaciously to the ball as he forced his way through the heart of the defence before seeing his shot blocked by the Sampdoria goalkeeper.

Less than a minute later Laudrup sent in Stoichkov for a shot which Pagliuca stopped with an outstretched foot. Eusebio pounced on the rebound and this time Pagliuca appeared to block the shot with his face.

The speed of Sampdoria 's counterattacks, especially when they were mounted through Lombardo, remained a threat. Just before the hour Lombardo sprinted away from Juan Carlos on the right and presented Vialli with a scoring chance from barely eight yards' range which he scooped over the bar.

Two minutes later Laudrup's carefully angled pass found Stoichkov cutting in on goal from the right. His shot beat Pagliuca but only to rebound from the inside of the far post.

Vialli, keen to atone for his miss, thought he had scored in the 69th minute when he gathered a pass from Mancini and chipped the ball past the Barcelona goalkeeper. Agonisingly for Sampdoria , not to mention Vialli, the ball bounced the wrong side of the far post.

In extra-time a tiring Barcelona advanced at a stroll against a retreating defence. But in the 111th minute Eusebio and the ball became entangled with a prone Sampdoria defender and Barcelona were awarded a somewhat fortunate indirect free-kick.

Stoichkov tapped the ball square, Bakero stunned it perfectly for the advancing Koeman and even Pagliuca had no hope of stopping a superbly struck shot. Too late, Sampdoria rediscovered some attacking ambition. In reality their main chance had vanished with Vialli.